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Benson – Date #20

This Is The Place Heritage Park- We couldn’t take pictures inside, where all the action was…

Two-thirds of the way to the goal, and this continues to be a great experience. Tonight’s date was with Benson, who is a pharmacist friend of Winter’s. We’ve met at church in passing before, but we haven’t had much interaction. So I appreciated him giving me a call and being willing to spend some time with me.

Benson picked me up and took me to Cafe Med, which is a really delicious Mediterranean restaurant by my house. Our waitress told us she drank half of the coffee back in the kitchen and was hilarious, because she was talking a mile a minute and seemed to have a jet pack strapped to her. Towards the end of the night, she came out cradling a rock that resembled a chunk of hematite so that she could calm herself down by using the rock’s energy. She was awesome.

I ordered an amazing plate of moussaka and enjoyed it over conversation with him. I learned that he’s a man of many interests. The University of Utah Hospital is a teaching hospital, so in addition to his work as a pharmacist there, he volunteers his time as an adjunct professor to teach medical students. He likes sports like softball and baseball, he spends time taking walks in nature, and he does some singing. He talked about his interest in traveling and about his mission to Portugal and learning Spanish to supplement his Portuguese.

The waitress thought the scarab on the sarcophagus looked like my necklace…

After dinner, we drove to This Is The Place Heritage Park for their Haunted Village. I was so excited- I’ve been before and it had just the right amount of spookiness. In fact, from what I’ve been told, one of the homes there is actually haunted and is listed on the national registry of haunted houses.

Benson was so considerate of me the whole time. He made sure I wasn’t too cold or too scared throughout the evening. And the haunted village was so amazingly well done. Visitors follow a marked path that leads through old historic homes, trenches, tunnels lit by strobe lights and obscured by fog, and more. Actors are positioned throughout the park and chase, startle, and entertain the guests. There was even a headless horseman and a guy who did a pretty realistic Beatlejuice impersonation. I screamed several times when people lunged out at me, despite knowing I was safe. They did a great job of building tension and startling people. I had a blast.

Benson was so funny throughout the haunted village. He made jokes and laughed and loved watching other people on the path get scared. He kept looking for a wolfman, but alas. Maybe another year.

Tonight was a good night to help me get in the mood for Halloween next week. I had fun getting to know Benson and getting scared with him. It was a great idea for a for a first date!